Mixing It Up: The New Museum of Arts and Design Presents Mix: New Performance at MAD

New Series Begins Thursday, October 23, 2008

Advanced Tickets on Sale Now

New York, NY (September 26, 2008)

Artists Martha Colburn, Sam Amidon, and Xaviera Simmons will perform and present their work as part of MIX: New Performance at MAD, a groundbreaking performance series that introduces artists who cross genres. Curated by Steffani Jemison with Jessica Sucher, the series will be held at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) and begins October 23, 2008 at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $15 general admission and $12 Museum members. For more information, call 212.299.7790 or log on to www.madmuseum.org.

The series begins on Thursday, October 23, 2008, with Martha Colburn and her latest cut paper animation films. She will present new work as well as pieces that span her career, including the world premiere of Triumph of the Wild, featuring a live score by pianist Thollem McDonas, and a new interpretation of Myth Labs, a recent piece about methamphetamines, faith, and Puritans accompanied by opera singer Haleh Abghari, foley artist Mike Evans, drummer Ryan Sawyer, and other special guests.

Musician Sam Amidon’s Home Alone Inside My Head continues the series on Thursday, November 20, 2008. Fusing music from his critically acclaimed album All Is Well with his visual practice, Amidon will present songs and videos as well as field recordings and interviews.

MAD proudly hosts the world premiere of Oscillation: (For a Minute There, I Lost Myself), to conclude the series on Thursday, December 18, 2008. Visual artist Xaviera Simmons, in collaboration with writer Jibade-Khalil Huffman, blends audience interactivity, experimental electronic sound, photography, video, movement, and text in her first piece designed for theater.

Dedicated to emerging artists who share a commitment to interdisciplinary artistic practice, MIX: New Performance at MAD offers new conversations that transcend multiple media, integrating images, performance, sound, and text. Drawing upon lived experience as a starting point, the artists’ work is informed by the weight of history, the responsibilities of representing a shared present, and the joys and anxieties of imagining a collective future.

Thursday, October 23, 2008 7:30–9:00 PM

Martha Colburn: Myth Labs Martha Colburn uses cut-paper animation techniques to create collage films that are both fantastical and stubbornly rooted in the material. Her recent film improvisations use hand-manipulated gels and "special effects" on found footage and original animations, examining moral conflicts, natural disasters, and early American history. In addition to Myth Labs, the artist will present short films spanning her entire career, each accompanied by a rotating ensemble of seven musicians and foley artists. Martha will also be performing an improvised expanded cinema work incorporating 16mm film, slides, and sound. Finally, the evening includes the world premiere of her latest work, Triumph of the Wild, accompanied by renowned pianist Thollem McDonas.

Martha Colburn is an animator, filmmaker, and artist who lives and works in New York, NY. Her films have been presented by museums and film festivals around the world, including the Centre Pompidou, the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Stedelijk Museum. She has collaborated and toured with indie rock band Deerhoof, and has recorded six music albums. Her work has been supported by the New York Foundation on the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Jerome Foundation. www.marthacolburn.com

Thursday, November 20, 2008 7:30–9:00 PM

Sam Amidon: Home Alone Inside My Head Fiddler, feature film actor, rock star, troubadour, philosopher, romantic, Sam Amidon was called “. . . the real thing . . .” by Rolling Stone. Amidon’s diverse creative output defies conventional categorization, and indicates his commitment to exploring the complicated role of the concept and values associated with “folk” in the context of cultural and political alienation. In Home Alone Inside My Head, the first New York City presentation that combines music from his critically-acclaimed 2008 album All Is Well and his visual practice, Sam will present “songs & tunes, videos & comics, self-inflicted field recordings & interviews with other people, real folk music & pretend liturgical dance.”

Sam Amidon was raised in Brattleboro, Vermont, by folk-musician parents Peter and Mary Alice Amidon. In 2007, he released But This Chicken Proved Falsehearted, a collaboration with Thomas Bartlett. In March 2007, he premiered the Nico Muhly composition Two Sisters at Carnegie Hall. His most recent album of songs is All Is Well produced and recorded in Iceland by Valgeir Sigurdsson (Björk, Bonnie Prince Billy) and featuring orchestral arrangements by Nico Muhly. Sam’s videos and comics were recently presented at Kuhrturm, a gallery in Leizpig, Germany. www.samamidon.com

Thursday, December 18, 2008 7:30–9:00 PM

Xaviera Simmons: Oscillation: (For a Minute There, I Lost Myself) A Collaboration with Jibade-Khalil Huffman Xaviera Simmons is a visual artist who works in photography, video, performance, music and installation, exploring the idea of the landscape and the relationship between historical and contemporary lived experiences. Oscillation: (For a Minute There, I Lost Myself) continues Simmons’ exploration into landscape, history, performance, and play. Much of the inspiration comes from poet Jibade-Khalil Huffman's newly published collection of poems, 19 Names For Our Band (Fence Books, 2008), a look into youth culture and rock ’n’ roll.

Xaviera Simmons lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BFA from Bard College in 2004, and she completed the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program and a 2-year acting program with the Maggie Flanigan Studio in 2005. Her work has been exhibited at venues including the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning; Art in General; The Studio Museum in Harlem; and the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland. She received the 2008 Public Art Fund commission and the David C. Driskell Prize from The High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Jibade-Khalil Huffman is the author of 19 Names For Our Band (Fence Books, 2008), as well as the forthcoming chapbook, James Brown Is Dead. His poetry, fiction, and photography have appeared in numerous publications, and awards include the Grolier Poetry Prize and fellowships from the Millay Colony for the Arts and the Ucross Foundation. Huffman lives in New York where he is at work on a novel and a collection of short stories.

STEFFANI JEMISON, CURATOR Steffani Jemison is an artist and curator who lives in Chicago and works in Chicago and New York. For two years, she served as Associate Director of Programs at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, where she managed the Swing space program and curated music and multimedia performances. From 2003-2006, she presented screenings, exhibitions, performances, workshops, and conferences on behalf of Amnesty International Firefly Project in collaboration with ABC No Rio, Exit Art, the Chelsea Art Museum, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Tonic, and other organizations. She was a 2008 resident at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. Her films and installations were recently presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, and the UCLA Wight Biennial 2008.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN The Museum of Arts and Design is the country’s leading cultural institution dedicated to the collection and exhibition of contemporary objects created in a wide range of media, including clay, glass, wood, metal and fiber. The Museum celebrates materials and processes that are embraced by practitioners in the fields of craft, decorative arts and design. MAD’s distinguished permanent collection includes more than 2,000 objects by renowned artists and designers from around the world, representing many forms of creative expression and technical mastery. For additional information, visit www.madmuseum.org.